Sex Offender Risk Assessments & What They Mean for Your Client

Individuals accused of a sex-based crime face serious consequences in terms of sentencing, registration and residency restrictions, and for some, the potential for civil commitment as a "sexually violent/dangerous person" at the conclusion of their period of incarceration. Risk assessment instruments are frequently used to determine an individual’s risk of "future dangerousness". This webinar will be a review of some of the most frequently used sex offender risk assessment instruments, the positive and negatives of the instruments, and why it can be very important to challenge the results of the tests when advocating for your client regarding sentencing, potential civil commitment, and the collateral consequences of being labeled a "sex offender". The discussion will include some relevant case law, up-to-date social science research and controversies among professionals in the field of sex crimes research, as well as an introduction to several risk assessment instruments. The objective of this presentation is that participants will: 1) gain increased knowledge and awareness of how risk assessments may affect their clients accused of a sex-based crime; and 2) ideas and strategies for challenging risk assessments as part of client advocacy.

Presenter: Jennifer Kamorowski is an executive committee member of the National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists. Jenn is the founder of Strategic Sentencing Solutions, LLC based in Alexandria, VA. She works as a capital defense investigator, and is licensed as an attorney in New Hampshire.

Jenn joined the NASAMS executive committee in 2014 during which time she has been a presenter at Life in the Balance and a panel member during the Alternative Sentencing Key Stakeholders Summit with the Aleph Institute in March 2016. In addition, she co-manages NASAMS’s social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. She is also involved with advocacy work for Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL).

Jenn expects to completer a master’s degree in Criminology, Law and Society in December 2016. She is committed to researching and developing policies and practices through which evidence-based decision-making can be better implemented in the criminal justice process.

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(members-only resource)